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Heritage Bank Trains Children In Financial Literacy (Photos)

In a bid to expose the citizenry to financial literacy
at a very early age in life, Heritage Bank Plc, Nigeria’s Most
Innovative Banking Services Provider, has exposed children between the
age bracket of five and seven years to
banking services.

The programme, which is part of activities to mark the bank’s Children
Banking Month, tagged: My Day as a Banker, was held at the corporate
headquarters of the bank in Lagos recently with pupils from Hilltop
Grade International School, Lekki, Lagos.

From the Reception to the Customer Service, Foreign exchange, Corporate
Banking and Human Resources, the pupils were visible attending to
customers who were amazed at the skills the kids exhibited in addressing
their banking needs after the initial short induction
given to them.

Speaking with journalists on the occasion, Tomi Oyesola, Group Head,
Retail Banking and SME,Heritage Bank, Lagos Island, said the training
programme was part of the financial literacy programmes of the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

She said it was very important for children to know what financial
literacy was and what banking was all about at a very early age of their
lives, adding that the children will be exposed to how prepaid card
transactions work and how to use ATM cards to deposit
and withdraw money among others.

She said the programme had been on since the inception of the bank,
adding that the bank usually trains children in primary and secondary
schools in financial literacy every year.

Oyesola said for children in secondary school, the bank exposed them to
treasury operations, financial control, sales and credit control among
others, adding that about 90 percent of the children that had been
exposed to the programme had opened accounts with
the bank.

She said for children in primary schools, the bank accommodates between
eight to 10 children from different schools at different times to expose
them to financial literacy for about an hour.

The financial literacy programme for children is part of the Central
Bank of Nigeria’s cashless policy which is aimed at equipping them with
basic tools in order to enhance their financial freedom and it is part
of activities of commemoration of May 27 to mark
Children Banking Month, with the theme, “Early Positioning for Glocal
Relevance.”

The Heritage Children Banking Month directly impacts about 350 primary
and secondary schools across the country in recognition of the pivotal
role children play as the leaders of tomorrow.

On the whole at the end of this year’s programme, Heritage Bank would
have imparted financial education on over 1,000 schools across the
country since commencing this programme two years ago, as part of its
social corporate responsibility.

Speaking on the importance of the celebration, the Managing Director of
the bank, Ifie Sekibo stressed that it was important to teach children
wealth creation early in life for the positioning of children for global
and local relevance. He further stressed
that there was need for parents to teach them on how to prioritize
savings over spending, which is a valuable life lesson and one that
takes time to learn.

According to him, opening a savings account for a child is one of the
best ways to introduce them to that concept at an early age.